Flowers, Swords and France

Charles's kind and gentle gesture made Charlotte's face, which was already red from drinking, turn even redder. She closed her eyes slightly, as if she was taking advantage of it.

"Thank you, Ciel..."

"I'm just doing what I should do." Charles walked up to her side and kissed her cheek gently, "That earl can be regarded as a friend, but he is not someone I need to please. , we just need to treat him as normal as possible. Moreover, because of his special status, we can't interact with him in a big way now. Besides...Charlotte, he came to France secretly and has a special mission. , so we must keep his whereabouts secret.”

"You always have so many secret missions in the diplomatic community!" Although Charlotte seemed to be scolding, she actually agreed happily, "Okay, I understand what you mean, I will treat it as if there is nothing tonight. It happened. By the way, have you arranged the route to Austria? "

"Yes, we have to take the train from Paris to Strasbourg, then enter Switzerland from Basel, and then cross from Switzerland to enter Austria." Charles looked at his wife worriedly, " It's going to be a long journey and I'm really worried about you."

Before 1848, the railway from Strasbourg to Basel, Switzerland, had been connected. After Charles became the actual person in charge of the Ministry of Railways, he also regarded the eastern border city of Strasbourg as the focus of his operations. After he raised enough funds, the main line from Paris to Strasbourg and the main line to Marseille began construction at the same time. Because there are many plains in northern France, this section of the road was completed earlier than the main line to Marseille, and it is now open. More than a year.

To get to Austria from Paris, the shortest route is to enter Germany from the eastern border of France, and then enter Austria via Baden, Württemberg, Bavaria and the South German State. However, Charles feels that although he is unlikely to be affected by What an obstacle, but it was still too troublesome to travel through so many German states, so he chose another path. Sit from Paris to Strasbourg, then enter Switzerland from Strasbourg, and then cross the entire Swiss territory, passing through Zurich and other cities all the way into Switzerland.

In this case. He was crossing a neutral country and would not cause any diplomatic commotion elsewhere.

However, this journey was okay before entering Switzerland, as it was all by train, but it became a bit troublesome after entering Switzerland. It is a mountainous country, and although they have chosen cities and routes with the most densely populated areas, people are still a little worried about Charlotte.

Fortunately, it is summer and autumn, which happens to be the most comfortable time of the year, and the weather is not enough to be an obstacle.

"I'm fine. I've told you several times, don't worry about me!" Charlotte still showed no sign of shrinking, and then she touched her bulging belly as if she was boasting or proudly, "Our child is very strong. , I can feel his heartbeat. He will be as strong as us."

"Okay...he will definitely do it." Seeing that Charlotte's will was still unshakable, Charles no longer persisted and shrugged, "Then you go to sleep with our strong child early, I There are still things to deal with.”

"Okay, Charles." Charlotte didn't object to his arrangement, but she still squeezed his hand with concern, "You should go to bed early later. No matter how important your business is, you can't sacrifice your health for it." Huh? There’s so much time in the day, no need to stay up late.”

"I know. I can control the time." Charles smiled sheepishly, "It's just that I just drank some coffee and am in great spirits now. I just need to vent..."

Look at his smile. Charlotte glared at him again, then turned around and held her waist, walking out of the room step by step, preparing to go back to the bedroom to sleep.

After everything returned to silence, Ciel stopped talking and sat down at the desk again. Taking the coffee Charlotte had brewed, he looked at his documents while drinking.

After an unknown amount of time, he finally heard a soft knock from the door behind him.

Ciel calmly put the documents back together, then left his seat, walked to the door, and opened the door gently.

The light at the door was very dim, but it still allowed him to clearly see the two people opposite him.

Of these two people, one is his confidant who arranged to lead the way, and the other is the guest he introduced today.

And this guest was his new friend, Prince Richard von Metternich, the son of the famous Austrian diplomat.

After meeting Charles, he returned to Austria and used his connections and influence to speak good things about Charles. Not long ago, he suddenly came to France and asked to visit Charles secretly.

So today, under the leadership of Ciel's servant, he took advantage of the darkness of the night and ran into Ciel's mansion through the back door.

"My friend, good evening." Charles stretched out his hand at the door and shook it with Richard von Metternich. "Please believe in the confidentiality here. Will our meeting tonight be... No one else knows anymore, so you can speak out."

"Thank you, my friend." The young Prince Metternich also smiled and held Charles's hand.

Then, the two people walked in together, and Charles ordered his confidant to stand guard at the door and not allow anyone to approach.

"I find that I always feel happy to meet young people who are as ambitious as me." As soon as he sat on the sofa, Charles looked at Richard with a smile on his face, "I always think that Europe's current History is written by people like us.”

"I happen to think so too." Richard nodded without humility, "You seem to be in a good mood?"

"Yes, we just received a very good guest." Charles nodded, "He also made my wife very happy. It's a pity that I can't introduce him to you."

"I hope you don't keep too many secrets from me..." Richard smiled bitterly.

Ciel picked up the cup and drank the last remaining coffee in one gulp. "I really hope you bring me good news today."

"It's good news, but it can't be made public." Richard nodded, "It's about your trip to Austria."

Ciel continued to look at the other person, waiting for his next words.

To be honest, the reason why his visit was possible was because Richard kept saying good things about him in front of his father and Austrian diplomats. And this time he came to visit him secretly, so naturally he should have some Austrian intentions.

He is not afraid that others will have designs on him, but he is afraid that no one cares about him in Europe.

"My father, after hearing your request, was very interested. He facilitated your visit because he also wanted to see you." Richard lowered his voice.

"Prince Metternich wants to see me? Okay, it's my honor." Charles was not very surprised. Because that's what he wanted to do. "Where am I going to visit him?"

Charles really wanted to see this diplomat who had been on the European continent for forty years and became famous together with Talleyrand while he was still alive.

"My father has been in poor health recently and has been recuperating at Johannesburg Manor. If it is convenient for you, can you...can you go there to visit him?" Richard hesitated slightly.

The Johannesburg estate of the von Metternich family. It is a manor located dozens of kilometers outside Frankfurt on the Main River. The scenery there is very beautiful. After losing his position and returning from exile abroad, the old Prince Metternich chose to settle there.

The reason why Richard was hesitant was because Frankfurt was the seat of the German Confederation Parliament at this time. If Charles went there to visit Metternich, it would always cause some kind of public incident, so he was afraid that Charles would have some diplomatic problems. concerns.

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However, Ciel had no worries and directly agreed.

"Okay. I am very honored. After meeting with His Majesty and finishing the visit, I will return from Germany and then go to Frankfurt to visit the prince. Although this will be some inconvenience, I don't think it will affect me. Respect for the Prince.”

"That's great." Richard breathed a sigh of relief. "At that time, there will be another person visiting my father, and that person is also a very good person - my father thinks it is best for you to talk to him together, and let's talk about the current situation in Europe."

"Who is that person?" Charles asked.

"He...he is Mr. von Bismarck, the Prussian representative in the Imperial Parliament." Richard replied somewhat unnaturally.

With just a glance at his unnatural expression, Charles understood what Prince Metternich really meant.

The Austrians were holding Prussia hostage to intimidate France. At the same time, they were holding France hostage to scare Prussia, trying to use this to have both sides. Luring foreign countries into fighting with each other and then reaping benefits from both sides is a very old but always effective diplomatic tactic. Metternich had mastered the game over the years.

However, Ciel was not afraid.

"Oh! That's great! Mr. Bismarck has met me before, and he is indeed a powerful person. If he is here at that time, I think we can have a chat together... Really, I am looking forward to it now!"

"Have you met before? When?" Richard was as surprised as Charles expected. But it was quickly covered up.

Nowadays, Prussia can be said to be aggressive in Germany, and the Austrians are very afraid of this country. Therefore, it is natural to feel nervous when Charles said that Bismarck had contacted him.

"Mr. Bismarck was a representative of the Imperial Parliament before, but he said that he had to wait for his predecessor to leave office, so he first traveled in Europe for a while, and then came to France, and then he asked to see me." Charles explained to him roughly. for a moment, but he was deliberately vague. "He is a very interesting man and has a good mind. He is not like the average Prussian I have met. He talked to me about the situation in Europe for a long time. Although I do not agree with all his opinions, I must admit that he Quite insightful.”

Richard moved his mouth, as if he wanted to ask what exactly Charles and him said, but in the end he didn't ask.

"Okay, Mr. Treville, it would be great if you could agree. I will convey it to my father. In fact, what my father means is that you, Mr. Bismarck and my father can communicate with each other, and then use We should coordinate the relations between the three countries based on their respective positions so that everyone can jointly cope with the chaos in Europe..."

Then, he lowered his voice even more, "My father has always wanted to pull Prussia away from its overly pro-Russian stance. He wants the two states of Prussia and Austria to choose neutrality in the perhaps imminent Franco-Russian struggle..."

"That's it, we'll talk about it in detail then." Charles nodded, not seeming very excited, "Is there anything else?"

"This is the most important thing." Richard looked a little disappointed, "There is another less important thing, I'll let you know by the way."

"What is it?"

"Princess Elizabeth of Bavaria has also been in our court recently," Richard's expression was quite serious, but he didn't see much respect, "As the future queen, His Majesty has decided to receive your couple together with her."

"Will the future Queen of Austria also come to receive us at that time?" Charles blinked, obviously a little surprised, but he quickly regained his composure, "Very good, it's our honor." (~^~)